Neck Profiles what do you like the most/least

[Mark Davis]

There is no right or wrong answer just your own opinion of what neck profile fits your hand the best and what one you like the least.

For me the all time best is the Jimmie Vaughan Strat that neck fits my hand like it was custom made just for me.

For me the all time worst is PRS.

[morroben]

For me, the '69 Thinline RI neck is the best. Just fits my hand well. I also really liked the EB/MM offset necks when I worked there, although I wish they had been bigger.
Anything too skinny is bad for me...PRS, Jackson etc.

[boris bubbanov]

MIM Tele: Baja is best;
MIM Strat: Jimmie is best;
Best CS: No-Caster;
Best MIA Production Neck: G E Smith;

Worst "Fender": The various "Special Edition" set necks made in S. Korea under contract.

I will show very little respect to any thin set neck - to the point I do not really know if an Ibanez or a PRS or a Jackson will set me off the most. I work hard to avoid those, since I know I can't make them right if there's a problem.

[Groovey Records]

Second Question First

I really never met a Guitar I didn't like something about but.....

I don't like Dobro's with square necks. I don't need one to lay it on my knee and spank it.


I really like a substantial neck

9 1/2 radius at least

maybe . 825 tapering up to an inch at the joint

C at the top to a soft V around the 6th fret to a hard V at the 12th the a U at the 15th fret.

I first Felt a neck like this on my Glendale Bluebell to me its perfect.

[Mark Davis]

Sending out the Fire Truck to put out those flames on that neck. Thats awesome.

[RomanS]

My favorite: Warmoth's standard thin; slightly thicker is OK, too.
My least favorite: any kind of V-profile - I play "classical" style (thumb behind the neck), and V-profiles make my thumb hurt really bad in its base joint after only a couple of minutes of playing

[brewwagon]

re groovy's

" now thats a neck! "

(spoken in a croc dundee voice)

bw

[telechucker]

Morroben - I hear ya Bro. I've got a '69 RI and the neck is awesome. Just the right combination of everything. Saying this, I've recently been enjoying Telecasters with big 'ol necks. I've got a Warmoth with a boat neck and my '51 Nocaster RI has a big neck too. Also, my Redd Volkaert Tomkins Tele has a baseball bat. I should point out that I've got small hands as well. Just what works for me. Regards.

[Telemarkman]

Some necks I like:

AV '52 RI: U, but not too big (D according to Nacho, C according to Boris ).

MIM 60's Classic: Classic C

AV '57 RI Strat: Soft V

Les Paul Deluxe 1970: Big C

Some necks I don't like:

AmSe Tele: Modern C (too flat)

Squier Affinity: Thin C (too narrow nut).

Some 70's Strats (too narrow nut, sharp edges).

[bluetele54]

Originally Posted by brewwagon

re groovy's

" now thats a neck! "

(spoken in a croc dundee voice)

bw

...I ever get the tech together to show the neck of my '54,you'll see the real deal...

[Donnie55]

soft V ,, dont like the fat round necks that feel like a baseball bat cut in half.

www.myspace.com/redtele2

[hackworth1]

Soft v +1

I don't like them baseball bats either. I like a decent radius too. Flat fingerboards are the suck.

[boris bubbanov]

We need to cut a baseball bat in half and see what it is really like.

I'll bet it is a perfect deep "C". These "Big Shouldered" necks are from maple that extends out past the natural arc of a circle in the areas away from the skunk stripe.

[BigDaddyLH]

Originally Posted by hackworth1

I don't like them baseball bats either. I like a decent radius too. Flat fingerboards are the suck.

Just toss 'em to me. I like 1" Fatbacks, and I always thought decent radius meant 16" But then I like fat girls, too.

I seem to be recreating the feel of a classical neck, which I really like (a wide 1 3/4" nut, too, please).

[jazztele]

Originally Posted by morroben

For me, the '69 Thinline RI neck is the best. Just fits my hand well. .

yeah, me too---size and profile wise, i love that neck...if i had one custom made, it'd be to those specs with some nice flame-y maple. But i've also really fallen for the neck shape on my godin fifth avenue--which is a good deal smaller and flatter...i guess anything that supports my hand and allows me to comfortably place my thumb in the middle of the back of the neck for stretchy chords AND allow me to hook my thumb over the top for other things...my thumb travels a good bit when i play.

truly, i can play on most anything...some of the skinny wizard-type necks cramp me up if i play my usual style, but then again, my usual style really isn't meant to be played on those guitars--for their intended purpose, they work great.

the only necks i hate are a hard V. that'd be an absolute deal breaker. I've played very few guitars that had that so, so that probably makes 85-90% of all the guitars i pick up playable for me, at least from a neck shape standpoint (setup? well, that's a whole nuther ball of wax!)

[cwcowell]

1 11/16" nut width, any shape other than V, and I'm cool.

V-shapes shove my thumb up over the top, which I don't like. Narrower nut widths make finger picking difficult. Wider nut widths mess up my barres. But that's probably because I'm not very good at them yet.

[Groovey Records]

Originally Posted by bluetele54

...I ever get the tech together to show the neck of my '54,you'll see the real deal...

Here is a 55 Esquire not mine but I get to use it all I want



Like The Glendale better

This 49 Snake Head prototype has a neck Lou Gehrig would enjoy. I do too

[TeleBrew]

I have long fingers so nothing is really too thick, but really thin necks can be uncomfortable to play.

It comes down more to scale length than anything else. I prefer 25.5".

I have three guitars and each one has a different profile and fretboard radius.

American Standard Tele: modern C shape, 9.5" radius
'62 AVRI Strat with Warmoth Total Vintage neck, 7.25" radius
Jazzmaster with Warmoth standard thin neck, compound radius 10-16"

They all feel great, but if I had to pick one I'd go with the Tele neck.

One particular type neck I don't like is on Martin guitars in general. Too thin, especially at the nut, and too thin in back.

[stantheman]

If You give me an afternoon I can get used to just about any neck there is for that night.
I think....

Also, I love the 1st generation Jeff Beck Neck, I'm just not too wild about roller nuts and electronics that are not "traditional".
That is all.

[Mark Davis]

Originally Posted by stantheman

If You give me an afternoon I can get used to just about any neck there is for that night.
I think....

Also, I love the 1st generation Jeff Beck Neck, I'm just not too wild about roller nuts and electronics that are not "traditional".
That is all.

The 1st Beck necks were the biggest necks Fender ever made.

It was a 1 3/4" wide D shaped neck.

The reason for this was when SRV and Beck did that tour together they had many conversations about their Strats and they both decided a big neck was a part of good tone.

Fender got so many complaints from people who thought it was too big they slimmed it down and added those noiseless ceramic pickups to the newer ones.

To my knowledge thats the 1st time Fender has made a guitar to the artists specs then changed it.

[JimmyJam]

Thick "U" shape. 1" prefferably.

[allen st. john]

My all time favorite? The neck on my Wayne Henderson 000, which he hand carved while I sat there. It's got a v that's ever so slightly asymmetrical in the first position but moves toward the centerline by the fifth fret or so. You can't see it, but you can *feel* it.

My favorite electric neck is a maple neck I found on a Partscaster I bought on a whim.
Chunky, wide, hard v, what's not to like?

[Mike Eskimo]

Best : big

Worst : little

[Roli]

Anything goes.

[woodman]

USACG asymmetrical profile is the most hand-friendly neck i've ever played (C on the thumb side, soft V on the finger side).

don't care for the thin ones much.

[BigDaddyLH]

Originally Posted by Mark Davis

The 1st Beck necks were the biggest necks Fender ever made.

It was a 1 3/4" wide D shaped neck.

I feel weak in the knees. That's my dream neck! I never knew Fender went that wide on a Tele.

[rhh7]

My favorite neck that I have owned is my Warmoth "fatback". I like a neck which is 1" at the nut, and at the 12th fret.

[pbenn]

The Warmoth Boat neck I have is pretty impressive.

[Travis in BMore]

I like the sound of a fat neck, but I simply can't play them as well as say....a Warmoth standard thin. I like a 16" radius, but a compound 10-16 is great, too. I like a wide nut- pretty much what every other fingerstyle player goes for. I like the look and snap of gloss nitro on the front, but sand it to near nakedness on the back of the neck, please.

*EDIT: Oh, and it's gotta be all maple for me!

[Mark Davis]

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLH

I feel weak in the knees. That's my dream neck! I never knew Fender went that wide on a Tele.

It was on a Strat.

[Mark Davis]

Here is a good way to see how all these different profiles relate to each other.

[BigDaddyLH]

Originally Posted by Mark Davis

It was on a Strat.

D'oh!

[Moonrider]

Heck - I'll play . . .

C shape, medium jumbo frets, and anywhere from 9.5 to 12 inch radius. Scale length ain't that important to me, but I have more axes with 25.5 inch scales than 24.75.

[Saxguitar]

All that matters to me is that it is a standard neck, however I have held some v shaped necks that feel good but I really like to have a thick neck probably something close to a SRV neck from your diagram above.

The best feeling neck I have is on my first guitar ( LP knockoff) which had a neck which was supposed to be shaped standard I think but it doesn't feel like anyother neck I have everheld, I would play for hours on that neck and my hand never got sore but when I bought my sx there was a little difference in size and now my had gets sore after a hour or two.

All I know is I like having thick necks they just feel right in my hand.